


only for those who aren't afraid to fly

by lady_ragnell



Category: Tom Corbett: Space Cadet Series - Carey Rockwell
Genre: First In The Fandom, Friendship, Future Fic, Gen, Graduation, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 13:27:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14333415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_ragnell/pseuds/lady_ragnell
Summary: After three long years as cadets at the Space Academy, Tom, Roger, and Astro are about to become full-fledged officers of the Solar Guard. It may be something they've all wanted for a long time, but there are a few things they're nervous about.





	only for those who aren't afraid to fly

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Be the First fest, because I will make this fandom happen somehow! If you've come this far, it may interest you to know that the first seven books in this series are free on Project Gutenberg and I've written a little orientation to the canon [here](http://theladyragnell.tumblr.com/post/172878084208/theladyragnell-from-the-rocket-fields-of-the).
> 
> Title is from a quote by Bob Bello: "The sky is the limit only for those who aren't afraid to fly."

All across the Space Academy, men were staying up past lights-out to pack their bags for end-of-term leave. Exams, paper and practical both, were done with, and the games where units competed to see who worked best together had left them all tired and boisterous and ready to go home to their families with new adventures to discuss.

Tom Corbett wasn't, like so many of his fellows, packing, because he'd finished all but necessities days before. He was, though, listening to his roommates argue over who was the owner of a particular textbook, and had been for, by his count, eighteen minutes. Considering Astro had just threatened violence (particularly restrained, to wait eighteen minutes for once), Tom decided it might be time to intervene before it got loud enough to get them in trouble.

“It's mine,” he said mildly, cutting through the argument from where he was laying on his bunk. “I had it out to look up an astrogation point for one of my final essays, and my name is inside the front cover.”

There was a brief pause as his roommates confirmed that, and then Tom was left grinning when both of them turned on him as one, always willing to unite against an outside force even if that force was the third member of their crew. “You couldn't have told us that half an hour ago when we started wondering?” Roger snapped, arms crossed. “Real officer material there, Cadet Corbett.”

“You can only call me that for one more night, so enjoy it while you can, Cadet Manning,” said Tom with a roll of his eyes.

It was the wrong thing to say. Roger went from eyes flashing and ready for a fight to looking away with a tight jaw in half a second, and Astro's shoulders dropped. They might have all been packing, ready to move on into the next phase of their lives, but sometimes it was easier to pretend that they were just getting ready for a few weeks of leave, to be spoiled by Tom's family or to visit Roger's mother or to go for another adventure on Venus, even if the first one had left them wary. Instead, they were moving into the officers' barracks, away from the familiar halls of the Space Academy, where they would await the orders that would take them into their first assignments as true members of the Solar Guard.

“I wonder who will take the _Polaris_ next,” said Astro, gloomy. “Bet they won't treat her as well as we do.”

“Anyone who makes it past the cut is going to be good enough to take her up. I'm sure they'll be good spacemen,” Tom chided, but his heart wasn't in it. There was only one thing he'd miss more than the _Polaris_ when he put on his gold-and-black officer's uniform, and missing her was already a keen ache. They hadn't had the opportunity to take her out on a mission for weeks before exams, and it seemed that their career with her might have already ended.

Roger tossed the textbook at Tom, who groaned when it hit him in the middle of his chest but didn't bother moving. “I'm mostly worried about where we're going to be assigned,” he admitted, sitting down himself. His bags were still the least packed of all of them, and Tom knew that the three of them would end up having to wrestle them closed and then that after their graduation ceremony the next day Roger would try to con Astro into carrying them to the train unassisted, but even that left him feeling fond, on the edge of nostalgic.

“What, hot shot, not planning to get out as fast as you can to go private sector and ruin the Solar Guard's reputation by being the best astrogator out there?” asked Astro, only half joking.

Roger groaned. “Please don't speak to me of my youthful follies, unless you want your own brought up. Where do you think they'll put us, though? We've been the star cadets in the Academy, but I know enough to know it's different up there. Real Solar Guard, we won't be three men on a vessel, we'll have enlisted men under us and much bigger ships.”

“Much higher stakes,” Tom agreed. They wouldn't be helping out at exhibitions, or running escort missions. They did tend to get more involved in problems than the average cadets, but there would be still more to keep them busy out there in the solar system, and beyond as more colonies like the one orbiting Wolf 359 were built. Maybe even someday, the dream of any spaceman, contact with alien intelligence.

Astro was looking glummer by the second, and Tom felt a little bad for it, when they were all supposed to be celebrating, happy to move on to the next thing. As happy as they all were, though, there were other things to worry about, and of course it was Astro who chose to say the biggest one out loud, the one thing that, even more than the _Polaris_ , they'd been avoiding discussing. “I don't suppose we'll be assigned together. They'll want the green officers spread out.”

Tom liked Astro when they met, but he'd never expected how important he'd be, as a teammate and a friend, as one of the two people he trusted most. He'd certainly never expected, when meeting Roger Manning, that he'd be the other one, or that he'd be the one stepping forward with comfort, though he'd never admit that he was trying to be comforting. “Captain Strong has called us one of the best units to come through the Academy since his own time here. It won't just be the three of us, but they might be smart and keep us together.” He ruffled Astro's hair, jumping back out of the way of the slap Astro directed at him for that. “Besides, someone has to explain what's going on to you knuckleheads all the time. I guess I could survive being stuck with the job for a few more years.”

“You'd forget to eat if we didn't tell you to,” Tom retaliated, since Astro looked like he was working up a temper about that and he'd rather have peace for their last few hours together. “So I'd say we'd all be better off if they put us together. But we'll be fine if they don't. My mother will be after me if you don't visit her when you're on leave, anyway.”

“I'd never disappoint Mrs. Corbett,” said Roger, with a wiggle of his eyebrows that obliged Tom to find a pillow to hit him with. “What are you hoping for, anyway? For an assignment, I mean.”

Tom shrugged. “I'm just happy to finally be a real officer. I think we've proved that there are exciting things to be found everywhere. But I'd like to be assigned somewhere near the two of you. I'll miss Astro's snoring otherwise.”

Roger laughed. “That's fine, you'll be able to hear him all the way from Alpha Centauri if you get sent there.”

There was, by necessity, another tussle following that, and when it was over, the three of them lapsed into thoughtful silence again, until Astro broke it. “Doesn't really matter, does it? If we're assigned together, I mean. We're spacemen, of course, but we're always going to be the _Polaris_ crew too, no matter where we go.”

“We're the best they've got, and all together, we can take the Solar Guard by storm,” said Roger, all bluster, but his smile was a little less sharp.

Tom smiled at both of them, a little less nervous about graduation than he had been with the reassurance that no matter where they might be assigned, his best friends would still be so. “We've certainly got a reputation. Maybe they'll assign us apart and hope that it means we find less trouble. But if they want the troubles solved—well, they could do worse than put the _Polaris_ crew together.” With that, Tom stood up. “Now come on, Roger. I'm betting it's going to take all three of us to get you packed, so we may as well get started.”


End file.
